DVD Buying Guide: December ’07

As the last stop before Christmas, December packs some heavy crowd pleasers. However, the cold has driven out most horror. Us genre lovers get a few titles spread across the weeks, but don’t expect too much.

Also, I’ve developed quite the headache while working on this list and am very jet lagged, which basically translates to feeling drunk. I apologize if things are not up to par.

December 4th:

If you aren’t a fan of Battlestar Galactica, you are strange to me. I can understand someone who has never watched the show. That’s fine. I, however, cannot understand someone who does invest the proper time to watch it only to still be indifferent to it. You either have never seen BSG or you are a slave to it. I am, of course, in the latter camp. Battlestar Galactica: Razor is a movie, yes, but it is not a standalone movie. This is basically a filler between seasons 3 and 4, though it is not a continuation of season’s 3 mind bone of an ender. If you’ve never seen the show, this is not where you should be starting from. If you’ve never seen the show, you really, really, really need to.

Thanks to the imminent release of I Am Legend, The Last Man on Earth gets a special edition. I’m not a die hard fan of it, but you’ve got to love a cover like that.

The Girl Next Door, the adaptation of Jack Ketchum’s novel of the same name, made the fest rounds earlier this year and was quite popular. That popularity never evolved into a wide pick up, but don’t let that affect your perception of the movie. I’m willing to stake it out as one of the most promising DVDs of the month.

I sat down to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End the other day and promptly fell asleep. It looks and sounds spectacular, but I just don’t care about this mess of a story anymore. But man does it look so damned good.

Superbad needs no sales pitch. One of the best comedies of the year, naturally.

The Bourne Ultimatum kicks all kinds of ass. It is the best of the series, which is no small compliment considering the rest of the trilogy hits the spot. Ultimatum, however, caps it all off in one relentless package. An action flick that has the power to attract men and women with equal measure.

Lost Season 3. A lot of people gave up on the most influential show in years. I was one of them. I’m also a nerd who will stick things out, though. If you are one who never got back into it, know that Season 3 brings the level of quality full circle. The last half of the season is exhilarating. One helluva a finale, too.

"Masters of Horror": The V Word sucks. This is one of the season 2 episodes that resulted in me writing off the rest of the season. I still love "Masters of Horror". I love any anthology series, really. The V Word is just one of, unfortunately, the majority of episodes that are all around meh.

Undead or Alive. Chris Kattan in a horror movie. Enough said. (Yes, I know this isn’t the first time.)

December 18th:

The last pre-Christmas week belongs to Bruce Campbell. Not that is offering is the best of the week, but it is the most bountiful. I’m not sure who was asking for it, but Alien Apocalypse and The Man With The Screaming Brain (which Campbell directed) both get new discs with new, Evil Dead-esque cover art. And if you thought the well was dry, you were wrong. Anchor Bay is putting out, once again, another Evil Dead DVD. Jesus Christ.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween (review) is an interesting film, to put it gently. I think it has a lot of problems, but I also think it does enough right to warrant a watch. Purists are going to hate it no matter what.

Once again Hatchet is nestled in the coattails of Halloween. I haven’t written the review yet, but I have finally seen Hatchet and can confess it is a fun movie. It is not the second coming of horror, as so many made it out to be, but it is fun. Then again, the most applicable description of horror should not be ‘fun.’

Blade Runner finally gets the treatment it deserves. The differences between this Final Cut and previous director’s cut(s) are small, what makes this such a seminal release are all of the fixings. This 5 disc set is a gift from God to Blade Runner fans everywhere.

It feels like it has been forever since I reviewed Boy Eats Girl. Oh wait, it has. That was the tenth post ever written on this site. Way to finally be out in America.

Like the past few season’s, The Simpson’s movie is kind of funny. Nowhere near the perfection of the early-to-mid seasons, but oh well.

Finally a movie called Invasion by a guy named Albert Pyun. If that sentence makes me sound ignorant, I am. I’ll admit, I’m not familiar with Pyun, but I have seen the name. He excites Twitch, which is enough to excite me.

December 25th:

A very empty week, but great for HD DVD. Yes, I realize this is very hypocritical of someone who claims Cronenberg as one of his two favorite directors, but I was not able to see Eastern Promises in theaters. I will, however, be soaking up every inch of the HD DVD.

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